


dash wants to romance phantom and he should do it

by MourningDew



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Romance, THEY'RE DORKS, it's inevitable, no phantom planet, phantom is a big dumb idiot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-04-21 17:01:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22096414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MourningDew/pseuds/MourningDew
Summary: Dash had a big secret: he was a hopeless romantic. Taking that a step further, he was hugely pansexual. Put those together and you had a big idiot that had lots of love to give, but nobody to spoil with it.What else could he do but fall hard and fast for Amity Park's hero, Danny Phantom?
Relationships: Dash Baxter/Danny Fenton
Comments: 71
Kudos: 370





	1. Chapter 1

Dash Baxter had a terrible, horrid, mind-blowing secret; probably the biggest secret in all of history. The truth is, he was a giant sap. Furthermore, and perhaps worse, he was an absolutely  _ hopeless  _ romantic.

He watched the romance channel every night, eyes glued to the screen with his chihuahua, Pooky, sat in his lap, gazing with the same rapt attention as his owner. It was his favorite time of the day, when he could go home and be himself… well, sort of. His parents would definitely skin him alive if they knew about what he fantasized about (cruises in the moonlight… wide-blown confessions… desperate tears as his lover is begged to stay…). They probably wouldn’t appreciate his sexuality much, either, which he’d figured was pan at this point.

And here was where the main problem cropped up: when Dash fell for someone, he fell  _ hard.  _ Snap his nose, shatter his skull, brain oozing out the ears hard. To make matters worse, he just happened to be attracted to the one man literally  _ all of Amity Park  _ was after as well- Danny Phantom. 

Everybody else just wanted Phantom because he was a hero, Dash was sure, but there was so much  _ more  _ to the teenage hero than just the heroics (even though they were fucking  _ amazing!). _ For instance, the way he grinned after finally beating down a stubborn ghost and it seemed to light up the sky. How he went cackling into a battle at his own horrible jokes. How his hair fluffed cutely when he slowed down to land. How his eyes literally  _ shone  _ with determination and bravery. 

Suffice to say, Dash could go on for hours.

Phantom was strong where Dash was weak, brave where he cowered, and beautiful where he was rough. 

It was honestly pathetic how badly Dash swooned for the ghost.

\---

Dash slid in beside Kwan at their usual table; they were the first ones there, and simultaneously glanced around to make sure no one was in earshot.

“So I got the pictures,” Kwan mumbled, sliding them over face down like some sort of shady dealer.

“Thanks, Kwan. I knew I could count on you.” Dash palmed the photos and tried to discreetly look at them under the table. Looking back at him were several snapshots of Danny Phantom in the middle of battle; most stunning was the one where Phantom was inches from fucking  _ roundhouse kicking  _ some ghost in the  _ face. _

“I thought you’d like them,” Kwan said, a little too smug, having seemingly have seen some reaction in Dash’s face, “they were in  _ super  _ high demand when I got there.” He sighed, looking over Dash’s shoulder at the pictures, “Phantom’s just so damn  _ flexible… _ ” 

“Imagine all the spider-man kisses…” he mumbled without thinking, but Kwan just sighed in sympathy.

Kwan was the absolute one and only person he’d  _ ever  _ told about the whole romance thing. Dash had been worried he’d laugh, but he was his best friend. They’d both been sat in front of the tv watching the romance channel within the hour. He couldn’t ask for a better best friend.

Finally, the other A-listers began to join them, so Dash tucked the pictures away and settled into the routine of gossip.

\---

It’d been a long,  _ long _ , wait, chocked full of flustered planning, working part time jobs, and reciting, but Dash finally had everything ready to confess.

To fucking  _ confess! _

“I’m gonna throw up,” he told Kwan through the bouquet of flowers he was clutching to his chest.

“No you’re not,” he reassured, “you know why?”

“Why…?”

“Because Danny Phantom is waiting for you!”

“...No he’s not? I haven’t told him yet.” Was this some kind of metaphor? He didn’t get metaphors.

“Huh? No, I meant, uh…” Kwan visibly struggled to salvage the conversation, “I meant kinda figuratively? Like… he’s waiting but he just doesn’t know it yet?”

Dash scratched his head, “I  _ guess…?” _

“...Whatever,” Kwan flapped his hands at him, shooing him toward the door, “go get in position and I’ll track him down, okay?” 

“Alright. Good luck out there!”

“You too, Baxter,” Kwan called, waving optimistically over his shoulder.

Dash took a deep breath in, then out, both ways trembling, before finally turning and jogging off to the confession site. 

\---

If everything went right, the plan would go as following: Kwan tracks Phantom down after a fight and asks him-  _ begs,  _ if necessary, that the ghost come to Amity Park’s gardens for ‘something important.’ There was a trail of roses at the entrance, leading deeper in until it came to the secluded spot that Dash sat waiting on one of the fancy benches, wearing one of his Dad’s fancy jackets and his best clothes. Dash would stand, give him, the bouquet, and then his speech… and ask him out.

In theory it was fine… but now that he was here, it felt like he was gonna pass out. He went too far, didn’t he? The trail of roses was too much-  _ way  _ too sappy. And what the hell kind of bouquet was he even  _ holding!? _ He’d tried to use flower meanings to his advantage, but now it looked like all the colors were  _ clashing. _ There was way too much. It was actually kind of heavy- or was that just his nerves? Dash lowered the bouquet to rest in his lap and wiped his forehead with his forearm. 

Oh god, was he going to sweat through his clothes? Was he about to  _ confess  _ to his  _ only love  _ while there were  _ growing sweat stains under his pits?  _ It was about time to call this off; it was fine, they could reschedule, Phantom popped up several times a day and-

Dash flinched as his phone buzzed in his pocket, alerting him to a text from Kwan.  _ ‘Hes coming ur way!!!’ _ it read.

Dash scrambled to make himself look halfway decent, sitting ramrod straight on the edge of the bench. A second later he smacked himself and leaned back, trying to look confident. He threw his arm over the back of the bench, but second guessed it after remembering the sweat.

_ Just be polite, _ he snapped at himself, before settling back with his hands in his lap, bouquet leaning against his chest.

He liked it when the characters in his shows were nervous to confess, but absolutely  _ hated  _ it for himself. How did they  _ deal  _ with this?

Dash waited for about another five excruciating minutes before he caught a bit of movement in the corner of his eye and saw Phantom coming around the corner- he hadn’t even heard him coming, oh god.

The A-lister stood, quickly smoothing down his clothes. Phantom seemed to have been collecting the roses as he went, now holding a small handful of them close to his chest. There also seemed to be a nasty looking bruise on his neck, just barely visible thanks to the high neckline of his suit. When the ghost finally looked up and saw Dash having an internal crisis a ways away, his eyes went comically wide (actually that was really cute…).

“Phant-om,” he began, his voice cracking on the  _ very first fucking word,  _ “uh, first of all, I’m really, really happy you could meet me here. Second…” Dash trailed off; his nerves were frying his memory. He saw Phantom take a breath to speak and panicked, quickly thrusting the bouquet toward him. “This is for you!”

The ghost fumbled it for a second, what with already holding the other flowers he’d picked up along the way. The bouquet looked huge in his hands; it also looked prettier in his hands. Less child’s-hateful-crayon-art and more graceful-rainbow-over-the-sea.

Dash tried to take a steadying breath and spoke softly, “so I know you definitely have a lot of admirers… like a  _ lot  _ a lot, but… I decided that I couldn’t live without- that I couldn’t  _ go on _ without at least  _ trying. _ ” He felt a hot wash of shame at the slip up, but he couldn’t stop now, “I-I see you fight and you make me brave, I see you smile and my whole world lights up. You’re just- you’re beautiful and amazing and- and…” Dash finally made eye contact, remembering that confidence in these situations was important, when his mind blanked. Oh god- oh god- Phantom was blushing a green glow. That was kinda weird- actually nevermind- that was fucking  _ adorable. _

Phantom glanced away and laughed nervously, “Dash, I uh-”

“W-wait, let me finish,” he cut in quickly, in a bit of a panic, “please,” tacked unhelpfully onto the end. Phantom shifted awkwardly, but nodded; Dash would have missed the way he held the flowers a little closer to him, if not for the subtle crinkle of their wrapping. 

He huffed and forced himself to continue, “the- the point is! ...It’s…” the script was a  _ mess _ at this point… “it’s that you mean more to me than you’ll ever know and… I want you to go out with me. Please. I-...” he nodded with finality, blushing madly. He’d botched that so  _ bad. _ He screwed up, hadn’t he? Oh god… Kwan was gonna be so  _ disappointed  _ in him…

Phantom took a deep breath and shifted the bouquet to one arm so he could rub the back of his neck. “...I, uh,” he began after awhile, “I really, really appreciate this, but,” Dash’s heart sunk in his chest- more realistically, actually, it hit the bottom of his stomach with a loud clatter. Phantom must’ve heard it, because he quickly went on, “a relationship with me of all would get really complicated really fast. I, uh, I don’t wanna pin that on anybody. Especially not you. Dash. So…” 

Dash blinked stupidly for a second. “...You mean the ghost fighting? I know- I know! A-and I’m prepared for that! I thought it all out- you could go out and fight ghosts, no problem, but when you’re done, I’d be waiting for you back at home!”

Phantom gave him an odd look, “...home?”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Dash fumbled, suddenly embarrassed again, “I figured you lived in the ghost zone or something and that you could just come to my place whenever we wanted to hang. ...That! Also! Solves the whole thing about you being super famous and all, y’know?” Dash began gesturing wildly, his nerves getting the better of him at this point, “you don’t even have to tell anybody we’re dating! I know everybody’d be  _ super  _ pissed if you did. This whole thing can just be our little secret!”

The ghost winced before he could cover it up, “about secrets… there’s a lot I can’t tell you. About myself. About ghosts. It’s just… Dash. You’re- you’re a great guy and all, but… a relationship with me would  _ seriously  _ be a bad move.” Dash was about to cut in, but Phantom talked over him, “can’t you do better than a secretive,  _ dead guy,  _ who fights other dead guys for a living? Your still in highschool. Uh, aren’t you? So- so at the very least, go and like… be with somebody that can actually contribute to the relationship.” He shrugged awkwardly, “or, I dunno, marry some rich dude and ride out life with money instead. Whatever suits you.”

Dash saw his chance and snagged it with both hands, “ _ you  _ suit me,” he blurted.

Phantom gave him a  _ look  _ and Dash would’ve fainted right then and there if it weren’t for the telling blush that came with it (those piercing green eyes could give grown men heart attacks, honestly). 

“That’s not- ugh. Dash-” Phantom huffed in frustration.

“No! Okay, listen up, Danny Phantom,” the ghost seemed to twitch at the use of his full name, “I think you’re fucking  _ amazing! _ I’ve been a huge fan since you just started out saving people. And the day that we both got shrunk super puny and had to run around a lot- that was really really tiring, but not the point! That was the best day I  _ ever had!” _ Was he shaking? He was definitely shaking; he was practically yelling at Amity Park’s hero to date him. “There’s nobody else that I would even  _ dream  _ of being with other than you! I- I’ve…

“I’ve fantasized this moment a thousand times.” Dash swallowed thickly and deflated. “And I just… it would make me  _ so  _ happy if you agreed to go out with me.”

Phantom looked terribly conflicted- maybe even a little dazed. The longer Dash looked at him, the more he started to notice how banged up he seemed. Oh, right; Kwan had pulled him right out of a fight, without even giving him a chance to go rest up. Dash was swamped with a sudden guilt- Phantom had dragged himself way out here to listen to his blabbering while all Dash had been worried about were sweat stains and color coordination… oh god.

Quickly, Dash began patting his pockets, some of his nerves finally falling away now that he realized how bad he’d fucked up. He pulled out an antiseptic spray and bandages before offering them to Phantom. “I’m so, so sorry- I didn’t think you’d actually be, like,  _ hurt  _ hurt…”

“What? It’s fine, it happens all the time, uh…” the ghost awkwardly set the bouquet on the bench (very gently…) and took both items. 

Shit, the ghost. “Wait, do ghosts even use that stuff? Dammit, I’m sorry…!”

“Again, it’s fine, chill. Just… why do you carry these around with you?”

“...Uhhh-”

“Duh, nevermind, most haunted city in America. My bad.” Phantom devolved into mumbling as he tore off a bit of bandages and reached below his neckline to press it, presumably, to his collar bone. When he pulled back, the bandages were dripping with green. He tore off more and repeated the process.

Dash watched for a moment before the guilt finally overtook and any hope of romance steadily fell away. He shuffled to the bench and sat down with a long sigh. “You can keep those. And… and you don’t have to answer all my earlier stuff. Not now- and… well, I guess not ever. ...Though I doubt I’ll stop coming to your fights.”

Phantom watched him warily for a second before floating to the bench and sitting down as well, leaving the bouquet to rest between them. 

This is where there would be some beautiful parallel drawn between love and their relationship or some such, but Dash sucked at poetry and he wasn’t anywhere near smart enough to make metaphors on his own. So he just looked around the garden while Phantom dealt with the wound.

“...I didn’t take you for the romantic type…” the ghost mumbled after awhile. 

Dash found his face flushing slightly, “uh, yeah… it’s sorta my secret.”

“I didn’t take you for being, what, gay? Either.”

“I’m pansexual,” Dash watch the collection of wadded bandages glow a collective, soft green, “and yeah… I guess that’s my other secret. I’m part of the A-list at school- they’re the best of the best. Cream of the crop. We’re the  _ cool  _ kids. The  _ best- _ ”

“I get it,” Phantom huffed, but didn’t seem upset at all.

“Uh, yeah, sorry. But yeah, I’d definitely get kicked out of the A-list if they knew about this stuff… well, my best friend knows, but he’s cool.” 

Phantom hummed and they fell into silence. Dash felt like he should be apologizing, but he didn’t want to ruin this more than he already had. It’d just be a broken record anyway. He sort of wanted to go home and try to forget this ever happened (a lost cause), but he didn’t want to just  _ ditch  _ Phantom after all he’d suddenly sprung on the wounded ghost. That would just be downright unforgivable. Could he walk Phantom home? Was that possible? 

Just when he was working up the courage to ask, Phantom spoke first, “what would you even want out of dating me?”

Dash blinked owlishly at him, though the ghost wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Uh,  _ duh! _ You? I already said all that stuff about you being super cool and heroic and awesome and pretty, didn’t I?” Phantom seemed to choke a little at that last one; he’d have to remember that. “I just wanna get to know you and, like, do stuff with you and… y’know! Dating stuff! We could watch movies together late at night, we could kissss? We could, uh, share food, share stories, just… date! We could make each other happy and all that.”

Phantom seemed to visibly flounder for a long moment, having set aside the bandages in favor of resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. A scowl slowly stretched across his face until, finally, he groaned and leaned back into the bench. “...Y’know what,” he mumbled.

“What,” Dash parroted, even though he was pretty sure that was rhetorical. For some reason, his heart was pounding again.

“...I’ll date you,” Phantom mumbled, watching him out of the corner of his eye.

A grin broke across Dash’s face, but he had to slap a hand across it before he squealed in front of his crush like an idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sam: WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?!  
danny: I WASN’T!!!!!!!  
tucker: *manic cackling*


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> first date. what could go wrong?

Dash Baxter has never been happier in his life ever since asking out Danny Phantom. He didn’t think the euphoria of it would ever go away, and honestly he didn’t really want it to. (he would be up late at night and suddenly be grinning to himself in the dark just _ thinking _ about the ghost). It was really just surreal, how this had _ actually _worked out in his favor.

Phantom had finally stopped by for the first time and they were both sprawled on Dash’s carpet, some quiet music playing in the background, matching the mood of the candles he’d placed around his room.

Initially he hadn’t planned on getting all sappy again so soon, but Phantom had took one look at his room and said “huh, I expected more of a… mood.” 

Dash admitted reluctantly that he’d been trying not to make things weird this early on, but Phantom made a show of brushing off the concern, probably to cover for the blush creeping across his cheeks (he was so easily flustered it was like a dream come true!). So he took the time to dig out some old candles and placed them strategically around the room; it was a bit of a fire hazard, but it was hard to care with how the natural light cast shadows over the ghost's face.

Currently, they were both resting on their stomachs, Phantom giving Pooky a belly rub and Dash watching the scene with no small amount of adoration. It was so fitting that the best dog in the whole world and the best ghost in the whole… afterlife where in the same place, getting along. It certainly didn’t hurt that that place was Dash’s bedroom floor.

“So… how long have you had…?”

“Pooky,” Dash answered proudly, “and he’s still just a puppy. I dunno his exact age ‘cause he was a rescue.”

“Huh. Well he’s definitely a good dog.” Phantom chuckled when Pooky wiggled out of his hands to lick his face. He wiped a gloved hand across his cheek and went right back to petting Pooky. “The best dog I’ve ever met, actually…”

Dash beamed under the praise, “I’d sure hope so, I trained him myself!”

Phantom slid his hands down Pooky’s head, flattening his ears and pulling his face back until he let go and it all bounced back in a show of happy, healthy chihuahua. “He’s so cute.”

“Yeah, he is,” Dash said, his gaze still locked on Phantom. He was reenacting things from his favorite shows and he knew it- strangely enough, he felt sillier doing this than outright flirting. Maybe because the ghost didn’t notice.

Dash cleared his throat, “so what do you do in your down time? Y’know, when you’re not out kickin’ butts and saving people.” 

“Hmm… well I…” Phantom seemed to get stuck on his words for a moment, “I like space. And… sometimes I’ll fly over town and just watch the sky.”

“Wow… that sounds really peaceful.” 

After a second, Phantom cleared his throat, “so what do _ you _do?”

“Uhhh, football, videogames… sometimes I host parties,” Dash counted off on his fingers, “most of my time is spent at school or hanging out with my pals. I’m a pretty popular guy.” 

Phantom rolled his eyes at him, but it was with a smile so Dash didn’t dwell too hard on it.

\---

They spent almost an hour just talking about each other. Dash was giddy to finally learn things about Phantom; he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel special from the other fans. It’s just that Phantom was _ such _a secretive person, nobody found out anything unless they were in a locked room with the ghost, but even then it needed a ghost shield or two just to keep him there. 

Dash had the extremely rare chance of actually bonding with Danny Phantom, the biggest fucking enigma of Amity Park. So far, he’d learned the following: first and foremost, Phantom was a huge NASA fan and loved the stars. Second, his favorite food when he was alive was his mother’s pancakes (“fluffy, warm, and drowned with syrup,” he’d recounted fondly). Third, before Phantom died he’d tried to learn the ukelele, but dropped it pretty soon. He also dabbled in programming, science, engineering, and astronomy (though the last one was all he was _ really _interested in, he’d admitted). 

Even with how much they talked, though, Dash couldn’t help but feel like Phantom was still holding him at arms length. He couldn’t begin to imagine why. Maybe the ghost thought Dash was going to spill to the press about his personal life? As if! He was determined to be the best boyfriend anyone had ever laid eyes on! 

So, he put the distance behind them and suggested they go on a walk together, since it was late and everyone would be inside.

“Sure thing. The park is near here so we could go there,” Phantom agreed, pushing himself to stand.

“Yeah, I just gotta get ready quick,” Dash turned off the music and began blowing out candles. He heard a sizzle behind him and glanced back long enough to see Phantom helping in the task. “Thanks.” 

Finally, they were all out and smoking gently. Dash threw his jacket over his shoulder and was about to lead the way out of the house, but paused when he noticed the tip of one wick was glowing. “Huh… don’t want it to light back up while we’re out.” He blew on it again, but it just glowed brighter, “uh…”

Phantom floated high enough to see over his shoulder (cute…), “want me to pinch it?”

“Nah, I got this,” Dash smiled and sucked in a big breath, before leaning in and blowing hard on the candle.

Before he could register what was happening, he flinched as he felt hot stuff hit his face as Phantom gasped behind him; he backpedaled away from the candle straight into Phantom who steadied him with a grunt. 

“Wha- wha-!” Finally, Dash realized that blowing so hard on the candle had blown the melted wax onto his face.

“Dash, you good? Does it burn?”

“It’s fine- I’m fine,” 

“Are you sure?”

Honestly, the wax had cooled about a second after it hit his face; it was only the shock of suddenly having something hit his face that spooked him so bad. At this point it just felt a bit like having dried mud caked on his face. Phantom’s concern for him was _ so _endearing, though. “Yeah,” the only thing that was hurt was his pride, thanks to splattering himself with wax even after they’ve had such a great night together.

“Alright. Where’s your bathroom?”

“Right beside my room.”

“Here… I’ll help you clean it up.”

Dash had initially thought that that meant Phantom was going to being touching his face, coming in close, breath _ ghosting _his lips-... but instead Phantom simply helped by getting a couple washcloths, one for his face and another for the furniture that had been caught in the crossfire.

So Dash spent about fifteen minutes prying wax off his face like he was a snake trying to shed the world’s most stubborn skin. It’d even flecked into his perfect, golden hair! They could’ve been to the park and _ back _by now if this hadn’t happened… it made him want to go beat up Fenton to relieve pent up stress. It just hurt more since things had been going to well prior.

Dash definitely didn’t flinch when Phantom phased through the bathroom mirror beside him and sat cross legged a few inches above the counter, “...we can still go to the park after this, if you wanted…?”

“Huh? You still want to?” Dash lowered his hands from his mostly clean face.

“Yeah, well…” Phantom rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, “you seemed kinda bummed. And. I figured I still had time, so why not.” 

They shared a smile, and Dash mentally pumped his fist.

“...You looked kinda like a dalmation before, though,” Phantom pointed out, smirking at him. “With a nice big splotch right here,” he said, tapping his own nose.

Dash felt heat creep across his face and huffed, “it wasn’t _ me _it was the candle…”

“Come on, it was funny, though,” Phantom was outright grinning at this point.

..._ Maybe _he could spare Fenton the payback this time.

\---

In the end, they _ did _make it out of the house. Phantom’s hair reflected quite nicely under every streetlamp and in the dark moments, he emitted his own pretty glow. Once they made it to the park and walked among the trees, Dash finally noticed that the ghost had been walking with his arms wrapped around himself.

...It _ was _kinda cold, wasn’t it? He could see his breath. “I didn’t know ghosts could feel cold.”

“Huh? Oh…” Phantom rubbed his arms for a second before dropping them, “we can, it just doesn’t hurt us like humans. ...Actually, I’m never warm. I have something in me called an ice core where, well…” they slowed to a stop just outside of the next lampost’s reach, “it basically means I generate cold.”

“Whoa. That’s so cool!” Phantom only shrugged, so Dash deflated a little, “...do you miss being warm, then?” he guessed. After a hesitant nod, a small smile crept across Dash’s face and he unzipped his jacket (he hoped this wasn’t taking things too fast), holding it open invitingly.

Phantom looked him up and down, “...what?”

“I’ll warm you up. With a hug. If you want.” This time, the green blush creeping across Phantom’s face was mirrored on his own. “...Or I guess I could just _ give _you my jacket… sorry, I was just-”

“It’s fine. And y’know what,” Phantom glanced to Dash’s face one last time, almost like checking to see if he’d changed his mind (as if) and stepped into Dash’s waiting embrace. 

He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms and jacket around the small ghost; a second later, he felt small hands creep around the small of his back to return the hug. Phantom really _ was _cold; it was hard to tell through the suit, but even then there was a chill radiating off his skin in waves. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Wanna stop?”

“Hell no.” 

They stood like that for a long time until Phantom seemed to lean fully into him even though he weighed practically nothing. He seemed relaxed (Dash really, _really_ wanted to see his expression).

\---

Dash grinned at his phone in victory; before they had parted ways for the night, he had managed to ask Phantom if he had a phone and, thank god, the answer was _ yes. _ Now they could actually _ plan dates! _ They could travel, Dash could prepare fancy meals, they could chat about whatever in the meantime… it was perfect!

Before any of that, though…

Dash slammed his fist into a locker right beside Fenturd’s head, making him flinch hard, “you’re gonna tell me everything you know about space and whatever _ or else, _” he slammed the locker again for emphasis, “get it?”

Phantom was gonna be so excited when Dash gave him all these wicked space facts!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dash tries to keep it cool and gets splattered with hot wax for his efforts, so instead he hugs a ghost


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dash decides to give danny a tour of the house, but as we all know, danny couldn't sip a lemonade without something going wrong

“-And this is the other bathroom,” Dash said, pretend kicking down the door. Phantom floated through the doorway, marveling at all the expensive furnishings. Thanks to his parents being gone on a weekend long trip, they had the house to themselves. Normally Dash would be taking this opportunity to host the biggest party of the year, but strangely enough, that idea just didn’t seem appealing anymore. “Two sinks, a detachable shower head, and a nice big tub for lots of elbow room...”

“Dude,” Phantom interrupted, “someone could drown in your shower.” 

Dash shrugged, “it is kinda big, isn’t it?” His mom wouldn’t take anything less than a “proper bathroom for a lady.” 

Phantom stretched out both arms and could just barely reach the closer walls of the rectangular shower, “who’s even gonna  _ use  _ this much room? What do you people  _ do  _ in here?”

Dash definitely didn’t get any ideas from that, none at all. “Uh, clean?”

“...Well.  _ Obviously, _ ” Phantom huffed, going a little green in the face. Dash couldn’t help but wonder if his mind went to the same place as his own. “Whatever, let’s just keep going.” 

Dash agreed by inviting Phantom through the door in a sweeping, overly fancy gesture that only butlers in movies and really snarky people used. Dash could be both people if he tried hard enough.

The bathroom and the kitchen were the best rooms in the house, thanks to his mom being the authority of the house, so the rest of this tour probably wouldn’t be that interesting. It was still fun to show Phantom around though- to watch him poke his head through the walls, tilt his head way back to get a view of the paintings his dad treasured, run his gloved hands along the polished wood of their railing. 

Dash led him through several other rooms, talking about all the furniture and trying to make jokes that, admittedly, fell a little flat (Phantom was surprisingly good at getting Dash to crack up- the loud, ugly kind of laughter when there was a really good joke you weren’t expecting). For awhile, he was worried that he was boring Phantom, but then he remembered the secret weapon he’d acquired a few days ago.

“By the way,” Dash began, “this is unrelated, but did you know Gany- Ganymade-...  _ Ganymede _ … is the largest moon in our solar system?”

Phantom seemed to deflate a little, but Dash wasn’t sure with how he was floating. The ghost turned to face him with a slight smile, “I did. Did  _ you  _ know the sun takes up ninety-nine percent of our solar system?”

“I did.” He didn’t. “Also, there’s planets made entirely of ice.”

Phantom crossed his arms, “there’s moons with an oblong shape instead of spherical.”

“Uranus is tilted on its side,” Dash tried, quickly running out of facts.

“Mercury is actually shrinking.”

“Wait, what?”

Phantom finally dropped to the floor and nodded like it was no big deal, “it has to do with tectonic plates and stuff.”

“Whoa…” Dash had intended on wowing the ghost with his facts, but instead he was suddenly realizing just how outmatched he was. The look on Phantom’s face was somewhere between amused and smug, though, so Dash decided that he was more than okay with being outshone. “That’s really cool.” 

“Yeah, I know.” 

Dash could only grin in appreciation.

\---

Almost twenty minutes later, they were about done with the tour; the only reason it was taking so long is because Dash felt the need to prod Phantom for more science facts. He didn’t really care about what the planets were doing, but ever since space came up it’s the most he’s heard the ghost talk in  _ weeks. _ He knew way too much about the stars- the worst part is that Dash could  _ tell  _ that Phantom was dumbing it down for him; he left out the numbers and instead described things with “ _ really really big” _ or  _ “really really REALLY hot”. _ He’d heard from some old guy doing a presentation once that ghosts had obsessions; he had to wonder if space was Phantom’s. He wouldn’t be surprised. 

Currently though, Dash was trying not to stare too obviously at Phantom. Not because he was pretty as hell- which he absolutely was- but because he seemed to be tiring out. His shoes scuffed the ground as he floated and he wouldn’t go into as much detail about space unless Dash explicitly asked him to elaborate. Did ghosts need to sleep? ... _ Would Phantom nap in his bed? _

“...You okay? You look kinda tired,” Dash pointed out, probably too much hope creeping into his voice.

“I’m fine. Just, uh, a lot of ghosts lately.”

Dash was just a bystander, but he usually faced an attack a day. The second he turned on the news, he was hearing about another across town. He didn’t doubt Phantom in the slightest. “Do you need sleep,” he asked, less hopeful and more concerned at this point.

Phantom sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, “yeah, but I’ll be fine for awhile longer. Are you gonna finish the tour?”

Dash stared hard at the ghost. He hadn’t been able to put it into words until now, but he finally realized what it was; Phantom conflicted himself a lot. He was clearly exhausted and yet he refused to sleep, even though all they were doing was wandering Dash’s house, making fun of his parents’ weird taste in decor. Was he really just that humble? 

“...Dash?” He blinked, suddenly realizing he’d been staring at Phantom in total silence for awhile now. “...The tour?”

Slowly, Dash’s mouth settled into a smile, “actually, I just got a way better idea!”

\---

Dash jogged from room to room of the house in quick succession; every time he passed through a doorway, it was like another item appeared in his arms. It must look like some old style cartoon, just without the whole defying physics thing (but then again, there was a ghost in his living room). Dash went in his room and returned with a candle, into the kitchen and back with a bag of chips, in the closet and back with a huge blanket, a heating pad, water bottles, and a couple pillows. He chucked the whole stash onto the couch, watching Phantom’s bewildered smirk out of the corner of his eye.

After a lot of fumbling and readjusting Dash finally sat with the remote in one hand and a thick, fluffy blanket wrapped around his shoulders like a cape, though it hung heavily on one side; it was that side that he held open in invitation to Phantom.

For a minute, Phantom only looked between Dash and the nearest wall; eventually, though, he seemed to make up his mind and drop to sit beside him. Dash pulled him closer until the ghost was tucked neatly into his side and  _ wow  _ Phantom was really small and also really fucking cute wrapped up in blankets like this.

Dash ignored the chills he got from touching Phantom, instead just grabbing the heating pad and passing it to him. “Anything you wanna watch?” All he got for an answer was a head shake, but Dash wasn’t about to call him out when he looked so adorable. He messed with the remote until the romance channel came on and suddenly found himself grinning to himself, Phantom pressed to his side.

When was the last time he’d  _ ever  _ been this happy?

\---

Barely twenty minutes in, and Dash realized that Phantom had fallen asleep. Five minutes later, Phantom,  _ while still asleep, _ snuggled closer and wrapped one arm around Dash, who had to try way too hard not to burst into blissful tears.

He really,  _ really  _ needed to thank Kwan for all the help. ...What better way than a picture, just like they’d been doing before?

Dash subtly shifted enough to tug his phone out of his pocket and struggled to balance it with his non dominant hand. Finally stabilizing the photo, he snapped it with a grin.

His own eyes stared back at him, and suddenly he realized just how pathetic of puppy eyes he’d been making this whole time. For awhile he debated just keeping it to himself, but then he looked at Phantom; his entire expression was just so  _ relaxed _ and  _ open-  _ it was so unlike the fierce determination he always sported during battle. There was a soft, green glow shining through the skin of his neck and when Dash looked down to check the real thing, he saw that it seemed to shimmer, brightening and dulling with every breath.

Dash had nothing to say but  _ hot damn. _ When he finally worked up the courage to send it to Kwan, all his best friend could do was speed-type several all-caps paragraphs that Dash couldn’t decipher through the misspellings. If that wasn’t the most relatable thing he’d seen in months, he didn’t know what was.

Dash curled his arm more protectively around Phantom and sighed, closing his eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my art tumblr is @nexmakesquestionableart tho im thinking of making another reserved for danny phantom 
> 
> school started just as i got back into the swing of writing ugh updates are gonna be slower
> 
> real plot starts next chapter ayyy can't wait to crush danny's fragile heart


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shit goes down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i told myself i wasn't giving this fic up and i was RIGHT

Dash was actually sort of proud at how good he was at being a gentleman. He’d always been sort of worried that he would end up acting like his dad (he was only ten the first time he was present to watch his parents fight- that’s way too young to be exposed to that stuff), but so far he’d been making quite the name for himself. Not that anybody but Phantom ever saw it.

He supposed it worked out like this; he kept all of Phantom’s “secrets” and Phantom kept his. The only downside was that there was a lot of meeting alone or meeting at night or, in this case, wearing disguises. 

Dash had exchanged his classic A-list, nerds-die-on-sight attire for a simple jacket and semi nice pants. He slid fake glasses over his nose and tucked a beanie over his head. He felt like a huge nerd, but they’d both agreed to wear disguises.

Phantom  _ had  _ pointed out that it wouldn’t be strange for Dash to be seen with a kid seemingly visiting from out of town and therefore didn’t need to bother disguising himself, but, well… what’s the fun in that? The spy movies always made it look like so much fun.

“Hey, Dash.”

He looked up with a grin, but it fell when he didn’t see Phantom. Suddenly someone was right in front of him and- oh,  _ that  _ was Phantom, “whoa, I didn’t even recognize you?”

“Then I guess I picked the right outfit,” he said, looking down at himself in all his NASA merched glory. He had the hoodie, he had the baseball cap, he even had a bunch of colorful bracelets.

There was something else about his appearance, though, and Dash  _ finally  _ managed to put his finger on it, “what happened to your glow?”

“I can control it. Mostly.” 

Dash laughed a little nervously as Phantom nudged him playfully; he gave a gentle, little shove back. He didn’t know why he was so careful with the ghost- he  _ certainly  _ wasn’t made of glass. Dash watched him get piledriven at  _ least  _ once a day and every single time Phantom was back on his feet within the minute, hitting the other ghosts back twice as hard.

“Let’s go get some food.”

\---

Unfortunately for them, they were just highschoolers, and no matter how big Dash’s allowance might be, it’s not like they could leave town and go somewhere fancy. If they stayed together long enough, Dash would  _ love  _ to take Phantom someplace really nice; with all the confusing silverware and dressed up waiters. Would he see Phantom in a suit one day? Oh man…

One fantasy at a time, Baxter. Right now, he had to tend to his date, who was a dream come true all on his own.

“So I know you’re super into space, but is there anything else? Obscure hobbies?” Dash sat across from his boyfriend at a quiet little diner on the edge of town. “Actually- we’ll go back and forth. I tried poetry for awhile.” 

Phantom stifled a snort, “ _ you? _ You did poetry? Like the cheesy stuff or the emo kind?”

“I don’t really know,” Dash shrugged, “I really sucked at it. It wasn’t really my thing, y’know? I was just too cool for weird metaphors. Now how about you?”

“Well, uh…” Phantom scratched the back of his head, “I tried building stuff. Never got the hang of it. I also tried starting a small garden, but of course everything died. reading is boring. ...Yeah, uhm… all my time just goes into ghost hunting and-... ghost hunting.”

Dash frowned, “well not anymore, right?” He reached across the table to pat Phantom on the shoulder, “don’t worry, buddy, we’re gonna get you a social life!”

“Pff. Sure, Dash. 

\---

They talked and ate and, before long, completely lost track of time. When they finally walked outside, the sun had almost set. They both had their hands in their pockets, but they walked close enough that their arms brushed every few steps. Dash had fretted a lot over tonight going well, but apparently he shouldn’t have worried.

“...We should do that more often,” Phantom said, looking away.

Dash felt himself grin, “hell yeah,” leaving his mouth before he could really comprehend his own words. They shared an awkward, but happy look and Dash shoved him playfully. Phantom gave him a look and shoved back, only to be sent stumbling and laughing a second later.

Their light rough housing was punctuated by bouts of laughter, and Dash was overjoyed that they managed to find a quiet route back to his house. Phantom ducked under his hand and put a palm on his chest and pushed. A bit later, Dash grabbed the ghost’s arm and clumsily spun him around. Phantom burst out laughing as a hit to the shoulder ended up being one to the face as Dash tried and failed to duck.

Dash was grinning hard enough that his cheeks hurt; in the back of his mind, part of him was suddenly made aware of how rare Phantom’s genuine smiles were. It both made him incredibly sad to see it that way, but also happy that he was able to bring out this side of him.

Phantom froze mid step- actually, in mid air- when a distant scream ripped through the air; Dash had a brief moment of panicked flailing as the world caught back up to him in a violent realization of  _ oh, someone’s being attacked. _

“...Are you gonna,” Dash began.

“Oh- yeah, yeah. I’ll be right-” Phantom stuttered.

“I’ll just, uh, cheer you on.”

“Great. Okay… yeah. Guess I’ll get to show off.”

Dash just smiled- a little bit awkward- and watched Phantom shed his disguise and rise up and over the surrounding buildings.

...Not the best ending to their outing, but it could’ve gone worse.

\---

Only fifteen minutes later and Dash was  _ really  _ regretting a lot of life choices. After watching Skulker (at least that was probably his name) and Phantom beat the hell out of each other for a bit, there was a little moment where the ghosts went way overhead and seemed to talk. Neither Dash or any of the other onlookers seemed to have any idea what was going on, but then Phantom was on Skulker in a second, tearing up the thick armor.

It was unnerving to watch, but then he saw a giant, green blade go through Phantom’s gut and he stopped caring.

Nothing happened for a long minute, or maybe Dash was just ridden high on adrenaline he couldn’t do anything with- not unless he learned how to fly in about three seconds. All he could do is stand there as the minutes stretched to hours and a horrible green dripped out of Phantom.

When time finally went back to normal, everything happened almost too fast for him to handle. Phantom shoved off of Skulker, pulled the blade out of his own stomach, and swung the blunt edge at his opponent like a bat. Using the narrow opportunity that Skulker was stunned for, Phantom then sucked him into the Fenton thermos, glanced down at Dash, and flew in the other direction.

The crowd around him was freaking out- rightly so- and Dash immediately took off after Phantom. He almost lost him many times, having to take crowded and tiny alleys to keep up with the ghost that could fly. He bruised his knees, scraped his palms (those would definitely need to be disinfected), and tripped more than a few times.

Finally, he just managed to glimpse Phantom slowing down and beginning to lower. He hit the pavement with a nasty groan, stumbling to put his hand on the nearest wall, smearing green on it in the process. Phantom shuffled further into the alley and Dash was quick to follow, despite how hard he was breathing (it was like a damn marathon).

Dash stumbled into the alley and squinted into the darkness, but he didn’t see that familiar glow outlining Phantom. Instead, he saw Fenton, looking beat to hell and covered in the ecto stuff. Dash’s first instinct was to go give him a couple extra bruises and find out all he knew about Phantom, but he was caught off guard by a rough string of curses (that didn’t sound like the puny weakling at  _ all) _ .

Dash stood partially frozen as Danny used the wall to stand, casually spit a mouthful of blood on the concrete, and sighed as a ring of light enveloped him around the waist, casting harsh shadows everywhere. The light split, one ring going down while the other went up, leaving behind a familiar, black hazmat suit.

_ ...Fenton and Phantom do look pretty similar, huh? _ He thought numbly.

Phantom pressed a hand to his gut and began making his way toward where Dash was standing. He felt his heart jump and was about to turn and run, but was stopped by an idnigant part of himself that refused to run from  _ Fenton. _ He hurriedly repressed it, the larger part of him that feared  _ Phantom _ taking over. ...Wait, fear-?

“Dash? What- how long have you been standing there?”

“Uhhh…” Dash suddenly realized several things. First of all, Fenturd was Phanturd. Second of all, both of those people had been lying to him for a long time now. Third of all, now would be a great time to get angry. He could yell at him, throw a couple punches (hell knew Phantom could take a hit), and it’d feel amazing. 

But then he saw the worry in  _ Phantom’s _ face and glanced down at the wound slowly dripping green. Dash could feel his heart sink.

“Dash…? You good? Did you hit your head or something…?” Phantom asked, searching his expression.

“I, uh, just got here,” he lied, “are you okay, though? Isn’t that green stuff like… your blood?”

“Sorta, yeah…” 

“...Shouldn’t we be taking you to the hospital? Or- or some weird ghost hospital? Or… the ghost zone? I- I mean- that’s- you were-”

“I heal fast…” Phantom mumbled.

Something in Dash snapped. “...You  _ heal fast? _ That’s- you got  _ stabbed! _ Why aren’t you worried about this!?” He threw his arms out, forcing himself to ignore the way Phantom flinched, “I don’t care if you’re dead, you’re still hurt. Speaking of dead-... just!  _ Come on!  _ Don’t be like this!”

Phantom shrugged uncomfortably, “what d’you want me to do, huh? Getting hurt is in the job description. This is-”

“Getting  _ hurt,  _ sure, but anybody else would’ve  _ died  _ from-”

“ _ Yeah, anybody else. _ Look, I gotta get this sewn up,” Phantom pressed his hand harder into the wound with a grimace, “I’ll see you later, okay?”

Dash barely managed to catch Phantom’s arm; he took a heavy breath, already committed to chewing him out, but then the ghost phased through his fist and disappeared completely. He stood there frozen for a moment before whipping around and kicking a dumpster.

Phantom was fucking  _ stabbed! _ Why was he so nonchalant about it!? It’s great that he’s hard to kill, but he had to have  _ some  _ self preservation in that idiot brain! But then again this was about  _ Fenton,  _ wasn’t it.

...Wasn’t it?

Some of the worry melted out of him and, as he stared down the green and red smears all over the alley, he felt guilt slam into him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok i feel like the quality dropped a ton since my last update, but i updated so it's fine  
also if u wanna yell at me to write more, i made a tumblr for fic related things. it's @nexmakesquestionablefics. there's nothing on it yet, but yknow


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was surprising to see how many people actually enjoyed this fic. it was totally self indulgent on my part, but then i guess that means it's genuine.  
anyway, sorry for taking 4 months xD

Okay.

So apparently his mega-crush-finally-turned-boyfriend and his favorite punching bag were one and the same. The concept in and of itself was disturbing; he’d been so  _ careful _ to take care of Phantom and be kind and show love.

Dash wanted to  _ not  _ be like his father, but apparently the  _ universe itself  _ thought he should hit the people he loves!  _ What the fuck! _

Maybe it was a trick of the light-  _ hopefully _ it was a trick of the light. Phantom and Fenton were like polar opposites, but Dash had to admit there were a lot of similarities. The cute, fluffy hair, the kind eyes, their interests… So what was Dash supposed to do about it?

For starters, he hasn’t seen Phantom in a week since he got stabbed. He also hasn’t laid a finger on Fenton in that same amount of time. He wanted answers so desperately he started every morning with a headache, but the thought of beating it out of Fenton made him sick to his stomach.

Dash had been so  _ ready _ to fight and argue and drag Phantom to the hospital kicking and screaming the  _ second _ he showed back up- but it was just radio silence. He had all this pent up rage and worry and he didn’t know what to do with any of it.

“Have you been to any of Phantom’s fights lately,” Dash muttered to his best friend during lunch.

Kwan nodded, “there was one yesterday. Why?”

“Does he look okay to you?”

“What’d’you mean?”

Dash scowled and made a few vague hand gestures, “well… the last time I saw him he got really hurt and… I guess we sorta had a fight…?” 

“Wait- you guys had a-”

Wait, Dash and Phantom fought? “ _ Oh my god-  _ I didn’t realize until now, but isn’t this our first fight!?” Dash grabbed Kwan by his shirt, “what if everything is ruined now? I haven’t seen him for a week other than when he’s off fighting ghosts! He’s avoiding me, I know it-”

“Whoa- Dash- breathe-”

“No! He got hurt and now he’s avoiding me and- and- and I think I saw something I wasn’t supposed to and…!” and he probably shouldn’t say anything about it to Kwan. His best friend was completely irreplaceable, but this? Fenton and Phantom? 

Dash was pretty dumb, but even he could feel a landmine when he stepped on one.

“Maybe you could try and talk to him,” Kwan suggested, peeling Dash’s fists out of his shirt, “catch him after a fight and, uh… ask, or something.”

“Ask  _ what?” _

“I dunno! Just talk to him. My mom is always telling me communication is important and it seems to work when I try it,” Kwan shrugged helplessly, “so just find him and… clear it up?”

“...Easier said than done when it’s Mr. I-disappear-into-thin-air…”

\---

What Dash  _ hadn’t  _ realized until halfway through last period is that maybe he didn’t have to talk to Phantom at all.  _ Maybe  _ all he had to do was talk to  _ Fenton. _

He could try and ask him things about Phantom and get him to admit to something! If he didn’t know anything, perfect! He could keep beating him up with no worries! If he did… then wow, fuck, Dash was in for a world of hurt.

Once the bell rang, Dash wasted no time in standing and slamming his hands down on Fenton’s desk, “you and me are gonna have a talk.”

Fenton awkwardly clutched a notebook to his chest, “...actually, Dash, I’m kinda busy right now. Can we do it tomorrow or-”

“No!” This was usually the part where he’d grab the nerd by his shirt and drag him off, but it already felt so weird just to be talking down to him, “you and me. Right now. Come on.”

Dash went to the door and glanced back, both surprised and relieved to see Fenton fumbling his books as he followed a few steps behind. He wasn’t sure what he would do if he didn’t get him to follow (probably something stupid).

A few minutes later, Dash kicked open the back door of the school and stomped his way out into the grass. He then turned to face Fenton. “Alright. What do you know about Phantom?” Probably best to cut to the chase before he got nervous.

“Um… he’s the ghost hero of Amity Park,” Fenton shrugged, “why’re you asking  _ me?” _

“Shut up. I know you know  _ something. _ ”

He shrugged helplessly, “why? I’m just a kid. A nerd you bully. I don’t know anything. ...Can I go now?”

“No! Shut up! You totally know something!” Dash crossed his arms and tried to look intimidating. Fenton seemed to shrink in on himself. “Don’t make me beat the information out of you,” he bluffed.

“Alright, alright… Phantom is, ummm…” Fenton looked everywhere but Dash’s face as he seemingly floundered, “he’s hero of Amity Park, a ghost, can fire ghost rays-”

“That’s all boring stuff,” Dash complained, then faltered, “wait, they’re called ghost rays? I didn’t know that. Why didn’t I know that?”

Fenton winced, “my- my parents are ghost hunters. I should be the one to know.”

Dash took a breath, but almost choked on it.

If Phantom and Fenton really were the same, that meant Amity’s most wanted ghost was  _ living with  _ ghost hunters. ...He would’ve been hidden right under their noses  _ this whole time!  _ How dangerous was that? How  _ incredible  _ was that!? How did a situation like that even come to be?

“Just  _ admit it  _ already,” Dash barrelled on (the breath he took shook a little), “are you actually Phantom?”

There was a long stretch of silence where Fenton looked pale (ghostly pale), but then he laughed and the spell was broken. “Me?  _ Phantom? _ Have you  _ seen me  _ in gym? I couldn’t lift a dumbbell and that guy throws  _ cars  _ around for fun. There’s no way.”

“...Well that’s what I thought,” Dash lied. “I just thought your stupid hair looked similar. I’ll see you tomorrow, nerd.” With that, he shoved his way passed Fenton and back into the school.

His feet carried him on autopilot while his attention was locked on the tight feeling in his chest. He should be  _ happy _ his suspicion was shot down; his boyfriend and victim were totally unrelated. They were. The nightmare of apologizing to his lover for the torture he put him through- the nightmare of asking why he  _ allowed it-  _ they no longer existed.

...Maybe it was just because he hadn’t reconciled with Phantom yet. That seemed likely; the ghost had totally brushed him off the last time they talked- while horribly injured, too! That was a big red flag. They  _ needed _ to talk.

Dash’s next plan of action would be throwing himself in the middle of a ghost fight.

\---

It definitely wasn’t easy to track down Phantom, but it was even harder to track his  _ fights. _ There was never any rhyme or reason to any of them- ghosts cropped up without any warning and always used bizarre (and sometimes horrifying) powers to terrorize Amity Park.

Whenever Dash heard of a ghost fight happening while it was  _ still going on, _ it was either on the other side of town or too dangerous for humans to go near- though, arguably, they were  _ all _ too dangerous for humans to go near (Phantom was the one and only ghost with humanitys’ best interest at heart).

It took almost a week for Dash to be in the right place at the right time; of course it was Casper High that fell prey to a ghost attack. It was inevitable and, for once, a blessing in disguise.

Watching Danny Phantom deck a twelve foot ghost without batting an eye always made his day.

Dash needed to  _ focus,  _ though! He had to get the message to Phantom without getting his skull crushed  _ and  _ without letting anyone on to what was actually going on. 

It was hard to brainstorm when both ghosts were tearing into each other with their after lives on the line. Phantom’s quips were  _ not  _ helping.

“Y’know, it was actually pretty smart to use a helmet,” Phantom said as he kicked the thing off the ghost’s head with a metallic  _ twang,  _ “but you could be even smarter if you’d just  _ used your head.  _ Ha!”

In the time it took Phantom to look around the room to see who was laughing (Dash tried not to), the ghost had swung around and grabbed him by the ankle. Things turned vicious as they struggled for power with their bare hands, but then they toppled over each other and then phased through the window.

The whole class surged to peer through the glass, Mr. Lancer included, and Dash gasped as he saw his chance slipping away. 

He bolted for the door, then ran down the hall. He almost ate concrete when he ran down the stairs, but his hands saved him from a broken nose.

Dash kicked the school doors open for the second time and ran around the corner to find Phantom grappling with the ghost. He was rattling off some cocky pun, but Dash didn’t even hear it as he called, “Danny Phantom, I need to talk to you!”

Both ghosts snapped their gazes to him and Dash stumbled to a stop as his heart thudded heavy in his chest.

The ghost lunged for him and Dash reflexively screamed as he realized how fucking  _ stupid  _ it was of him to interrupt a ghost fight- a  _ ghost fight!  _ The only reason he never died the million other times it happened was because Phantom  _ took the hit for him! _

But pain never came.

Dash pried his eyes open to see that Phantom had grabbed the ghost by the tail and was currently beating the ever loving  _ shit  _ out of it, his eyes glowing a sharp, electric green.

Dash gaped through the entire process of Phantom forcibly shoving the ghost down, then yanking it inside the thermos. He flinched when those bright green eyes turned on him and dropped his eyes to the grass. “I still- I need- I need to talk to-”

“You could’ve gotten seriously hurt,” Phantom snapped as he stomped closer. “Why’d you  _ follow us  _ outside? What the hell were you thinking? I moved the fight outside so no one would get hurt!”

“You got hurt and wouldn’t come see me and I had no way to contact you,” Dash said quickly, “I was worried so I did what I had to, alright!?”

“ _ No,”  _ Phantom snapped and waved the thermos in his face, “you don’t get to endanger yourself over this!”

“Well what would  _ you  _ have me do?”

“Make a poster board! Do graffiti!  _ Anything  _ other than putting yourself in front of powerful, hostile ghosts!”

Silence fell over them, heavy and suffocating. Dash stared at Phantom, somewhere between rage and pain as the soft relationship he’d cultivated crumbled before his eyes. Everything had gone so wrong so quickly.

Maybe it was the way the light hit Phantom, or maybe it was the pained look on his face- maybe it was even because Dash finally managed to look at the ghost without rose tinted glasses- but he definitely saw it now.

“...Are you Danny Fenton,” he asked suddenly.

Phantom flinched, then slowly lowered (Dash hadn’t even realized he’d been floating). He looked at Dash’s face, then the ground, then the school.

Dash belatedly realized that it was a good thing the windows had all been bolted shut, or everyone could’ve heard exactly what was going on; as it was, they’d at least seen it. He would absolutely be getting questioned for this.

Dash searched each window until he found their classroom, then the faces of the A listers. He kept looking until he found Kwan; it was hard to see detail from here, but he seemed to be pressed against the glass.

“Who’s Danny Fenton,” Phantom asked, but it sounded flat.

When Dash looked back at his face, that looked flat, too. “...Just some dumb kid I mistook you for awhile ago. It doesn’t really matter. ...Can we talk?”

Phantom idly messed with the thermos and, eventually, sighed. “...Fine. I’ll see you tonight.”

With that, he disappeared and left Dash to stare dumbly at Casper High’s unevenly cut grass.

\---

Dash ended up questioned by the whole school about what happened; everyone wanted to know what he said that made Phantom so violent. He lied through his teeth every time, saying, “nothing, really- I think Phantom was just upset I interrupted the fight.”

He caught Fenton watching him from across the room during on of these lies, but as soon as they locked eyes, Fenton went right back to talking with his mismatched little friend group. When Dash tried to question him later, he barely got an answer.

Somehow, it felt like he’d messed up.  _ Badly. _

He’d never seen Phantom that angry- not even when ghosts were mocking him and beating him up- not even when the town turned against him and called him a freak despite all the work he’d done.

Dash went his whole day without a single sign from Phantom or any other ghostly figure; he went through every period, got on the bus, got home, went to his room, decided who would do his homework for him, and- when there was nothing left to keep him busy- sat on the edge of his bed with a loud sigh.

Maybe Phantom only agreed to see him so Dash would leave him alone. Maybe Dash should’ve just let this whole thing blow over; he’d known going into this that he wasn’t the best at relationships, but he’d done it anyway.

Phantom was just so charming- so anything and everything that Dash ever dreamed of being (if a little bigger and more muscular). So pretty and heroic and courageous. Was it really so bad to like him?

...At the very least, Dash hoped Phantom would break up with him instead of giving him radio silence for forever.

\---

Dash never received a visit that night.

He didn’t receive one the night after it, either, nor the one after that or the one after that and so on.

Thankfully he had a lot of big tests to hold his focus- or at least most of it. He probably wouldn’t get this off his mind for quite a while.

Almost a week later, Dash was idly flipping through channels until he froze on the news channel; there Phantom was, shoving another ghost in his thermos.

“Danny Phantom, how was this latest capture,” the news reporter asked as he shoved a mic toward the ghost.

“Um… not too hard. It’s about what I’m used to,” Phantom said slowly.

“Who was this ghost?”

Phantom shrugged as he glanced between the reporter and the camera, “I’m not sure yet. Anyway, I’ve got important, uh, hero-ing business to get to, so-”

“Just a few quick questions,” the reporter insisted, “we have here some of the most asked questions your fans have!” The reporter talked over whatever Phantom was trying to say, “just like this one; why did you decide to become the hero of Amity Park?”

“I mean… who else was gonna do it? The Fentons can’t handle it alone,” Phantom said awkwardly.

“What does the D on your chest stand for?”

“Danny Phantom.”

“What’s your taste in women?”

Both Phantom and Dash choked on that one.

“My- my taste in-...” Phantom rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and cleared his throat. “...I’m actually seeing someone right now, so…”

Dash felt his heart thump and a smile creep across his face. He watched the reporter immediately begin to badger Phantom for more details, but the ghost couldn’t be swayed. It wasn’t long before he vanished from sight entirely.

Dash didn’t bother changing the channel after that- not even when it switched to some natural disaster happening down south. He was too busy thinking about the light blush on Phantom’s cheeks.

Maybe he didn’t regret dating Phantom. It was a wonderful experience and made him feel ways he’d never felt before. The only things he  _ did  _ regret were probably the way he handled everything  _ outside  _ the gentle dating atmosphere.

...If Phantom thought they were still dating, then maybe Dash would apologize for getting mad. Just this once.

\---

Two days passed.

Dash nudged his bedroom door open and wandered in only to freeze when he saw  _ Danny Phantom sitting at his desk- _

“Hey, Dash.”

“...H-hey! I didn’t think you’d…”

Phantom frowned, but nodded and turned his chair to face him directly. “...Before you say anything, I’m sorry I didn’t come by when I said I would. Everything got out of control between the ghosts and… other stuff. I didn’t mean to put this off for so long.”

Dash awkwardly dropped his backpack to the floor. “Well you can’t just ignore the hero biz. Like you said, people could get hurt.”

“Yeah, well… that’s true, but I shouldn’t have yelled at you before. I shouldn’t have done a lot of things. I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t have lied to you.”

“About what? I don’t…” Dash finally noticed the  _ tension  _ in Phantom’s shoulders. “What’s-”

“Do you remember what you asked me? When you interrupted my fight,” Phantom clarified as he stood.

“Um… I asked you to talk with me.”

“No, the other thing.”

“...Did I ask if you were okay?”

Phantom weakly facepalmed himself, “...you asked if I was- if I was Danny Fenton.”

“...Oh.”

“Yeah.” They stared silently at each other for a long moment, then Phantom continued in a whisper, “...the answer is yes.”

At first, Dash only heard the tremor in his voice; the words didn’t matter if Phantom sounded that scared. Phantom didn’t  _ get  _ scared- not by  _ anything. _

Then a bright, white ring formed around Phantom’s waist and he processed the words the same time the ring split and travelled over Phantom’s body. The jumpsuit was stripped away and left familiar, ratty clothes in its place. The light stuttered when it neared Phantom’s head, then passed smoothly over it.

Black replaced white, blue replaced green, and Danny Fenton stood before him looking halfway to an anxiety attack.

Dash remembered to close his mouth and breathe.

“...Oh,” was all he could manage.


End file.
